The Music of Our Lives

[Kenneth Lawson]

First, there was radio, then there were movies, then came records.
The 78's opened a world of music to the masses.
And the 33rpm LP broadened it even more, as the prices for equipment and records went down over the years.
Then there were stereo consoles in every living room, with a radio and turntable, and a few even had reel-to-reels players.
The size and configuration of the console stereo were endless.
After that came the home stereo receiver, and stand-alone speakers.
And the home built stereo was born.
Now there is an ever growing market for vintage stereos, turntables, and of course records from every generation, and genre.
Along with the many new turntables ranging in price from a few hundred to many thousands of dollars.
So tell us and show us your vintage stereo, and brag about the classic equipment and vinyl you've collected over the years.

 

[Kenneth Lawson]

As a kid, I had the stereo with a cassette and 8 track player and turntable. It was probably cheap junk, but it was I could get at the time.
And I didn't know any better..
However, today, I've gotten back into vinyl.
I now spend quality time looking through old records every chance I get.
I've also gotten some new pressing of some music I had as a kid.
My equipment has been upgraded as well.
I recently got a Yamaha turntable,
along with a sony cd player, and a Sony cassette deck.
While not the vintage 1970's Pioneer receiver, I want, they work well with the Onkyo Receiver they're paired with along with my Radio Shack Nova 6 speakers.
As for music, everything from ABBA to Miles Davis, and Ventures and Glen Campbell, and too many others to mention.

 

[HudsonHawk]

My setup is pretty simple: 1970s-era Sansui 8080db receiver, U-turn Audio turntable with a Bellario tube pre-amp. Run it through my Paradigm 7 SE MK2 floor speakers, or when I want to crank it up without rattling the walls, my Grado 325se headphones. I haven’t had a cassette or CD player in years, but do have a little Bluetooth receiver attached. All my listening these days is either my records or internet radio, though I’ll ocassionally listen to the ballgame on the receiver.

 

[GHT]

Back in the 1950's, I would look forward to staying with my Grandmother during the long school breaks. She had a shop, the shop next door was a cafe, well more truck stop, but for the small delivery type vehicles. The cafe owner had a juke box and, as and when the popularity of a song/record waned it would be replaced by some new release. The older record would be put back into it's sleeve and given to me. I still have them, there's hundreds, if not thousands, collecting dust. Pride of that collection are the five singles that Elvis released on The Sun Label.

Come the sixties and the musical revolution led by The Beatles, I like many others, simply bought the latest release, because everybody else did. It was a kind of self imposed teenage peer-pressure. All those sixties records are also collecting dust.

In 1967, I met the lady who would become my wife, we married the following year. Just thinking aloud whilst flipping through my records, she noticed that I hadn't bought the famous Beatles LP, Sgt. Pepper. Time to own up, I told her that all those records didn't really float my boat. So she asked me, what did I like. For the life of me my mind went blank, I couldn't think of a single name that she might know, so I simply said: "Glenn Miller." She looked both surprised, and pleased. "I love Big Band music," she said, she also enjoyed African/American music from the 30's/40's & 50's, she loved the crooners too. So from then on, we have collected nothing but that kind of music.

Some records from the era were reproduced on 45rpm, which is my preference, so we play everything from the haunting tunes of Django Reinhardt and Chris Barber, to the melodious songs of the ratpack and their ilk, through to the 30's & 40's greats. If you like music from that era, stick around, we have a Lounge member name of VC Brunswick who is an authority on that period. And you remember back at the start when I explained how the records from the cafe juke box kicked off my collection? This is my record player.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The first records I ever bought with my own money were a 4-disc 78rpm album by the Benny Goodman Sextet. I think I paid two dollars at a second-hand store. Still have that set today, and it's still worthwhile listening. Charlie Christian is the sole justification for the existence of the electric guitar.

I play my records on a Philco RP-2 phonograph attachment. The built-in oscillator didn't sound good -- it operates on a frequency that's very noisy here -- so I bypassed it and attached the pickup directly to a phono input installed in the audio stage of my Philco 37-10 console radio. Big, fat, room-filling sound that makes electric-era 78s sound like they're supposed to sound, and not all thin and weedy like you get on LP/CD reissues.

Rock was persona-non-grata in our household when I was growing up, and I never developed any interest in it. My tastes ran toward jazz, swing, and 30s dance bands as far back as I can remember, which was an improvement on my mother's tastes. She grew up during the absolute nadir of American popular music, the late 1940s and early 1950s, and to this day she loves Arthur Godfrey's recording of "Too Fat Polka." Nuf 'sed.

 

[HudsonHawk]

The first records I ever bought with my own money were a 4-disc 78rpm album by the Benny Goodman Sextet. I think I paid two dollars at a second-hand store. Still have that set today, and it's still worthwhile listening. Charlie Christian is the sole justification for the existence of the electric guitar...

My favorite Charlie Christian story is how he came to play with Goodman in the first place. Story goes that Christian auditioned for Goodman on the recommendation of John Hammond. The audition was in a studio and didn't go well, and Goodman was uninterested. Undeterred, Hammond arranged to have Christian sit in on a live set that night, unbeknownst to Goodman. Goodman was upset when he saw Christian, so he called for the tune "Rose Room", which he assumed Christian, a black picker from Oklahoma, would not know. However, Christian knew the tune well, in addition to being able to improvise on the spot. The song lasted 40 minutes as Goodman was blown away. That night the Benny Goodman quintet became a sextet.

 

[Kenneth Lawson]

My setup is pretty simple: 1970s-era Sansui 8080db receiver, U-turn Audio turntable with a Bellario tube pre-amp. Run it through my Paradigm 7 SE MK2 floor speakers, or when I want to crank it up without rattling the walls, my Grado 325se headphones. I haven’t had a cassette or CD player in years, but do have a little Bluetooth receiver attached. All my listening these days is either my records or internet radio, though I’ll ocassionally listen to the ballgame on the receiver. View attachment 147301 View attachment 147302 View attachment 147303

Very nice setup, As I said, I've been looking for a vintage 70'ish era receiver, So far I haven't found one I can afford, or that close enough to get to.
Meanwhile, my current system rocks the place.
Truth be told, its a better system then I had a kid.
The Radio Shack Nove 6's are a throwback from my younger days. I had a pair when I was a teenager, In fact, I think I still had them when I got married and used for many years until they died. So when I spotted them in a pile of speakers across the room, I had to have them. 40 bucks go me a trip down memory lane..lol
I do want to replace them with better ones when I can find something I can afford.

 

[Kenneth Lawson]

The first records I ever bought with my own money were a 4-disc 78rpm album by the Benny Goodman Sextet. I think I paid two dollars at a second-hand store. Still have that set today, and it's still worthwhile listening. Charlie Christian is the sole justification for the existence of the electric guitar.

I play my records on a Philco RP-2 phonograph attachment. The built-in oscillator didn't sound good -- it operates on a frequency that's very noisy here -- so I bypassed it and attached the pickup directly to a phono input installed in the audio stage of my Philco 37-10 console radio. Big, fat, room-filling sound that makes electric-era 78s sound like they're supposed to sound, and not all thin and weedy like you get on LP/CD reissues.

Rock was persona-non-grata in our household when I was growing up, and I never developed any interest in it. My tastes ran toward jazz, swing, and 30s dance bands as far back as I can remember, which was an improvement on my mother's tastes. She grew up during the absolute nadir of American popular music, the late 1940s and early 1950s, and to this day she loves Arthur Godfrey's recording of "Too Fat Polka." Nuf 'sed.

I don't remember the first record I bought. I do remember buying them a lot in high school. Back then I'd record them to cassette and play the cassette, and not play the record again. At the time it made sense, I guess it still does today, in some ways,
But at any rate, I don't remember my folks listening to a lot of music at home. I know my dad had a pioneer receiver.
I don't remember him using it a lot.
My early collecting included Andy Willaims, Abba, Glen Campbell, and I remember loving Henery Mancini even back then.
I've had a thing for Tv and Movie themes. I'd collect them like kids collect marbles. at one time a had a an extensive collection of tv and movie themes on my computer. I've been known to play Name the theme, and watch as folks would know a piece of music and not remember where it came from.
Fast forward to today;
I think al the records I had as a Kid are long gone. I know I had the 2 record set of Elvis Hawaain concert live,, the copy with the satellite pictures on the front. Two 45's I had that disappeared yrs ago are Johnny Cash on the sun Label, Luther Played the Boogie, I don't remember another one, But even then I knew they were worth something.
Johnny Cash, I grew up listening to him. We had the 8 tracks in the car, and he would be blasting his country right into my soul. Today I can hardly watch the video "Hurt" without it getting to me.
The same with Glen Campbell, Chet Atkins, and many others. They were the greats of a generation.
Waylon was also a favorite of mine. I now have vinyl copies of two of the cassettes I wore the printing off as a kid.
When Johnny and Waylon, and Willie finely go, There will be no good country left to listen to.
I didn't mean to ramble...

 

[Kenneth Lawson]

Back in the 1950's, I would look forward to staying with my Grandmother during the long school breaks. She had a shop, the shop next door was a cafe, well more truck stop, but for the small delivery type vehicles. The cafe owner had a juke box and, as and when the popularity of a song/record waned it would be replaced by some new release. The older record would be put back into it's sleeve and given to me. I still have them, there's hundreds, if not thousands, collecting dust. Pride of that collection are the five singles that Elvis released on The Sun Label.

Come the sixties and the musical revolution led by The Beatles, I like many others, simply bought the latest release, because everybody else did. It was a kind of self imposed teenage peer-pressure. All those sixties records are also collecting dust.

In 1967, I met the lady who would become my wife, we married the following year. Just thinking aloud whilst flipping through my records, she noticed that I hadn't bought the famous Beatles LP, Sgt. Pepper. Time to own up, I told her that all those records didn't really float my boat. So she asked me, what did I like. For the life of me my mind went blank, I couldn't think of a single name that she might know, so I simply said: "Glenn Miller." She looked both surprised, and pleased. "I love Big Band music," she said, she also enjoyed African/American music from the 30's/40's & 50's, she loved the crooners too. So from then on, we have collected nothing but that kind of music.

Some records from the era were reproduced on 45rpm, which is my preference, so we play everything from the haunting tunes of Django Reinhardt and Chris Barber, to the melodious songs of the ratpack and their ilk, through to the 30's & 40's greats. If you like music from that era, stick around, we have a Lounge member name of VC Brunswick who is an authority on that period. And you remember back at the start when I explained how the records from the cafe juke box kicked off my collection? This is my record player.
View attachment 147314

WOW, That's a record player...
Theses you rarely see the old jukeboxes much less one working and in that nice condition.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Very nice setup, As I said, I've been looking for a vintage 70'ish era receiver, So far I haven't found one I can afford, or that close enough to get to.
Meanwhile, my current system rocks the place.
Truth be told, its a better system then I had a kid.
The Radio Shack Nove 6's are a throwback from my younger days. I had a pair when I was a teenager, In fact, I think I still had them when I got married and used for many years until they died. So when I spotted them in a pile of speakers across the room, I had to have them. 40 bucks go me a trip down memory lane..lol
I do want to replace them with better ones when I can find something I can afford.

Vintage (60s-70s era) receivers are getting more and more rare and in demand and consequently more expensive. You can't touch a working Marantz from that era for less than $300 and the more powerful ones are upwards of $800-1500, depending on condition. I got this Sansui from a coworker a while back for $200. I bought it sight unseen, but I know him well and trusted him. When he told me what he wanted, I said "you can get $400 on eBay right now, even if it doesn't power on....at least $600 for it in working condition, probably closer to $800". He said he knew what it was worth, but didn't want the hassle, and $200 was good enough for him. I didn't have to think twice. Like most receivers from that era, it's a tank. Solid everywhere, no plastic. Even the knobs are machined aluminum. Of course it weight about 70 lbs, but that's the price you pay. The speaker are awesome, but to be honest, I listen to the headphones most often. The Grados...handmade right there in Brooklyn, USA...are second to none for the price, IMHO.

I'm slowly rebuilding my vinyl collection. Like most people my age, I had grew up on it, but went to cassettes then to CDs. I kept a few of my favorites, but now find myself buying the same records I had back in the day. Something about listening to vinyl that just feels better, especially when run through that wonderful funky tube sound. It sounds warmer, fuller, less sharp on the ear. And you have to want to listen to a record. Then there's that album art...

 

[HudsonHawk]

When Johnny and Waylon, and Willie finely go, There will be no good country left to listen to.
I didn't mean to ramble...

Johnny and Waylon are already gone. Willie is 85...

 

[Kenneth Lawson]

Johnny and Waylon are already gone. Willie is 85...

I'm very much aware.
All the great ones are either gone or will be going.
Once they're gone, there's no one to replace them.

 

[Kenneth Lawson]

Vintage (60s-70s era) receivers are getting more and more rare and in demand and consequently more expensive. You can't touch a working Marantz from that era for less than $300 and the more powerful ones are upwards of $800-1500, depending on condition. I got this Sansui from a coworker a while back for $200. I bought it sight unseen, but I know him well and trusted him. When he told me what he wanted, I said "you can get $400 on eBay right now, even if it doesn't power on....at least $600 for it in working condition, probably closer to $800". He said he knew what it was worth, but didn't want the hassle, and $200 was good enough for him. I didn't have to think twice. Like most receivers from that era, it's a tank. Solid everywhere, no plastic. Even the knobs are machined aluminum. Of course it weight about 70 lbs, but that's the price you pay. The speaker are awesome, but to be honest, I listen to the headphones most often. The Grados...handmade right there in Brooklyn, USA...are second to none for the price, IMHO.

I'm slowly rebuilding my vinyl collection. Like most people my age, I had grew up on it, but went to cassettes then to CDs. I kept a few of my favorites, but now find myself buying the same records I had back in the day. Something about listening to vinyl that just feels better, especially when run through that wonderful funky tube sound. It sounds warmer, fuller, less sharp on the ear. And you have to want to listen to a record. Then there's that album art...

As I've said various places; "You have to Do The Work" to listen to vinyl. Listening to vinyl is like driving a stick shift car, or running a revolver, You have to do the work to make them do what they're supposed to do.
When I was in Tennesse, at my daughter's I bought a lot of stuff "Just Because"and it was mostly cheap.
Howevr the last full day thre, I spent my money on known stuff. Then when I picked up my two copies of the Waylon records I'd had on cassette years before, along with a couple of I knew what they were. I bought stuff I knew what it was.
I too am rebuilding my collection. However, today's collection will have material I've never heard of back then. Miles Davis, and some others only discovered in the last few years.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I'm very much aware.
All the great ones are either gone or will be going.
Once they're gone, there's no one to replace them.

Who's gonna fill their shoes
Who's gonna stand that tall
Who's gonna play the Opry
And the Wabash Cannonball...

There are some out there, but you won't find them in Nashville.

 

[Kenneth Lawson]

Who's gonna fill their shoes
Who's gonna stand that tall
Who's gonna play the Opry
And the Wabash Cannonball...

There are some out there, but you won't find them in Nashville.

I lost interest in Country music years ago.
There is very little new music being made now that I'd give you two cents for.
At least in the way of popular or "pop" music, I know the videos that show up in my music feed on Youtube are scary, to say the least.
I wonder how many of them will be still around 5-10 or even 20 yrs from now, and will anyone miss them?
I seriously doubt it.
I listen to Diana Krall, and folks like her, who sing "The Great American Songbook",
and keep to the classic music of the 20th century alive.
That not even counting all the originals I love.

 

[Worf]

As a musician I TRY and keep an open mind to todays music. I'll purposefully put on the local "Pop" music station and endure an hour or so of unintelligible lyrics thumping synths and autotuned voices. I try not to be the "old crusty basterd" claiming that everything new stinks compared to (fill in the era) but it's so hard.... so very hard.

I listen to RnB, Soul, Jump Blues from the 40's right up to but not into the dreaded "Disco" era. I also dabble in Jazz but I'm no aficionado of the genre. There's always something/someone NEW/OLD to discover.

Worf

 

[Worf]

As an aside I don't have any vintage electronics, my turntable is in the basement, but I've many orphan loudspeakers. AR, Epicure, EPI ADS, OHM and some others get swapped out regularly. Speakers are the only piece of home audio where something 30 years old can hold it's own with it's modern counterparts. And it you can repair the foam surrounds... last until the NEXT century!

Worf

 

[vitanola]

When I was five I first saw a Victrola in a favorite uncle's home. I was utterly fascinated with the machine and with the copy of Barney Google which laid on its turntable. For months I would speak of nothing but that talking machine. That Christmas my grandfather gave me one of his father's machines, a Victor v open phone gramophone of about 1910 vintage. My first records with a bohemian ethnic recordings which came from my great-grandfather's collection and the mid to late 1920s dance music which came from the collection of my Aunt Olga. My first record purchases were made a couple of years later, at the garage sale; a Linguaphone disc: "Die Familie Schnieder", a copy of "Love Sends a Little Gift of Roses" by John McCormack, and my first real jazz records: "Prince of Wails" by Henri Gendron and his Strand Roof Orchestra (in this case a paeudinym for Fletcher Henderson's organization featuring Louis Armstrong), and "Oh Baby!" by The All Star Orchestra. A couple years later I found a nice Orthophonic Victrola 8-4 at the curb, and spent my snow shoveling and lawn mowing money on needles and ten cent records at St Vincent DePaul.

 

[vitanola]

When I was five I first saw a Victrola in a favorite uncle's home. I was utterly fascinated with the machine and with the copy of Barney Google which laid on its turntable. For months I would speak of nothing but that talking machine. That Christmas my grandfather gave me one of his father's machines, a Victor v open phone gramophone of about 1910 vintage. My first records with a bohemian ethnic recordings which came from my great-grandfather's collection and the mid to late 1920s dance music which came from the collection of my Aunt Olga. My first record purchases were made a couple of years later, at the garage sale; a Linguaphone disc: "Die Familie Schnieder", a copy of "Love Sends a Little Gift of Roses" by John McCormack, and my first real jazz records: "Prince of Wails" by Henri Gendron and his Strand Roof Orchestra (in this case a paeudinym for Fletcher Henderson's organization featuring Louis Armstrong), and "Oh Baby!" by The All Star Orchestra. A couple years later I found a nice Orthophonic Victrola 8-4 at the curb, and spent my snow shoveling and lawn mowing money on needles and ten cent records at St Vincent DePaul.

These are the sorts of things that I have enjoyed ever since:

https://youtu.be/JdXprF9N6wg
https://youtu.be/IivZ9-IRRq4

 

[vitanola]